Graven Lines
by BigEvilPhenom
Summary: Joker has escaped Arkham once again, but this time he's out for revenge. Out to finish what he started. But he may not realize what all will come his way. Neither will The Dark Knight...
1. Chapter 1

He rounded the corner and darted down the alley. Every door he seemed to check was locked. He kept sprinting down the alley tripping over trash cans and debris, all the while part of his takings spilling out of the bag. At this point that was irrelevant after what he saw. He couldn't have seen what he thought he did. That had to be an urban legend, it just had to be.  
_The Batman sent his grappling hook up to the nearest building and flew up into the night. No petty criminal could ever escape the Batman and tonight would be no different. He reached the top of the building and scanned the alley below with the night vision installed in his mask and saw the perp sprinting east down the alley, the same alley that made him who he was..._  
This is my city, _he thought_, I'll be damned if you can outsmart me in it. _He leapt from the building and flared out his cape, gliding silently above the alley his eyes never leaving his target._  
Profusely sweating and scared to death the new found criminal was running as fast as he could. He'd just seen the Batman or what he thought was the Batman but he could never be certain and didn't want to be. If he didn't get to the hideout to meet the boss, he would certainly find out. Which was the last thing he wanted. He'd heard stories...  
_ Reaching down at his utility belt, Batman withdrew a smoke bomb and grasped it in his right hand. He dipped lower into the alley dropping down a few feet every second judging the right time to strike._  
He wasn't but two blocks away, he could make it if he kept low and sprinted every chance he got, he just knew it. He passed behind Wayne Towers and kept on moving, his breathing becoming deeper as he gasped for air, expanding his lungs to capacity. I gotta quit smoking, he thought to himself, its gonna be the death of me.  
B_atman's eyes never left him and he noticed that the robber was slowing in his speed and was trying with all his might to keep moving. The Dark Knight decided to strike now at his weakest point. He tossed the smoke bomb a few feet in front of the man and the smoke instantly filled the air. He heard the robber cry out in surprise as he stopped and started coughing in the smoke. Batman landed in perfect silence behind him._  
With all the smoke that had suddenly engulfed him, he couldn't see a thing. Hell, he couldn't see a thing, let alone enough to allow him to keep running. He stopped in the middle of the alley way coughing and waving his hands in front of him to clear the smoke from his eyesight. It slowly began to clear and he could see in front of him again. With his eyesight and new found second wind he began to sprint down the alley again. Before he could take a step, he heard a deep meanacing voice speak behind him.  
"Going somewhere?" the voice said.  
The man swung to see what he never thought he would see: The Batman. He loomed above him scowling, his eyes peircing into his. Scared senseless, he began to shake.  
"Uh...I...Wha...Your real?" he managed to sputter as he backed away from the shadowy figure.  
"Very," he said as he began to stalk towards him, "and so is the little cold and stony down at Gotham PD."  
The man was terrified as he backed into a wall. He had nowhere to go and knew he was defenseless as he began to sob. The only place he could look was down at the urine running down his pant leg.  
"You don't scare me!" he tried to say in his toughest voice, but the shaking of his bottom lip stopped that from coming through.  
"Judging by the piss running down your leg, I beg to differ" the Batman growled, snatching him up by his jacket. "Now who do you work for?!"  
The man shaking, eyes darting back and forth trying to look for a way out, a way to reason with the Bat.  
"Look, I...I don't want any trouble, I jus..."  
But the man's words were cut short by the sound of beeping coming from inside his jacket. Batman set the man down and ripped open his coat. Inside was a small box. Batman, inspecting it with his eyes noticed small wires coming in and out of, as far as Batman could tell, a small television. Suddenly a very familiar face appeared on the screen.  
"Hello Bats! You don't look at all surprised to see me! Why, it seems its been forever since our last little endeavor!"  
"Joker."  
"Why, who else did you expect? Cobblepot? No, no, no, Bats! Why, I'm hurt at the thought! And here I was going around thinking I was your favorite!"  
Batman just looked at the screen, never moving, never blinking.  
"Always the strong silent type, eh Bats? Well don't think I forgot our last encounter. The one where you nearly killed me in a fit of rage and tossed me back in Arkham!" the Jokers voice rising.  
"You killed Robin and then crippled Batgirl. You're lucky to still be alive." Batman said nonchalantly. But inside never forgetting the mistake he had made. It had took a great deal of self control not to beat the man's brains into the pavement.  
"Well that's no excuse! I was just getting rid of a pest. You know, I always hated birds. Almost as much as I hate Bats!"  
"Get to the point, Clown."  
"That's Clown Prince of Crime to you Batty Boy! Oh my, in all this useless conversation I forgot what it was I was going to say to you..." The Joker said, tapping his finger to his chin.  
Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked Gotham. Batman turned to looked in the sky, trying to pinpoint where the explosion came from.  
"Why of course! It's Gotham Hospital! Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. How could you not know?! And here you were, always so good at stopping me in the past!"  
Batman turned back around and spoke to Joker menacingly, "What have you done?"  
"Oh you know, just finishing what I started," the Joker said with a grin.  
Batman turned and ran back down the alleyway, remembering that Barbara Gordan was in the hospital overnight for observation.


	2. Chapter 2

Barbara Gordan was sitting on the second floor of Gotham Hospital in room 251. She hated hospitals, especially at night. It was dark and all she could hear was the snoring of the person in the bed next to her. She just wanted to go home. They said they had her in here for observation and they may have found a treatment to give her her legs back but she wasn't sure she was ready. She had become so used to being Oracle that the thought of becoming Batgirl again seemed...seemed strange. Though her Dad was right, it didn't hurt to hear them out.  
She wished she could be mad about her situation, she wished she felt like getting revenge. She wished she felt something, anything but she couldn't. She knew the risk of the job when she took it, the insane people she would be chasing down to bring in for justice. It had been five years and she had lost she all of her animosity. She just wished Jason was there, atleast to comfort her...  
The murmuring started in the hallway close to her door. She couldn't understand what they were saying so she closed her eyes and Listened, a trick Batman taught her on her first day of training.  
"The boss said we have to plant it in the utility closet on the second floor next to room 251"  
"Why though? This isn't really our MO. We're just petty thieves, we're talking mass murder here."  
"Can it. We do what the boss says or our payday goes up in flames. Do you want that?"  
"No, I could use a cool million but I'm not sure I'm ready to make it at the loss of so many innocent people."  
"Since when did you become such a Sensitive Sally. Listen, this isnt on our conscience. All we're doing is setting a brief case in a closet. It's not like we actually know whats in there."  
"Right, and the ticking sound coming from that thing doesn't give you any kind of clue?"  
"Whatever, let's just get this shit done."  
'Oh no.' Barbara thought 'How do I stop that?'  
She started to pull herself into an upright position and reached for her cell phone. Her communicator that was a direct line to Batman was on her wheelchair, so that was out of the the question. There was no time. She slid open her phone and dialed the only person who could help her; her father.  
"Come on Dad, pick up." She whispered into phone.  
On the fifth ring there was an answer.  
"Hnng..." Said Jim, obviously half asleep.  
"Dad, you have to get down here to the hospital as fast as you can."  
"Barbara? Is that you? What's wrong?"  
"There are two guys in the hall and they are planning on planting a bomb in the utility closet right next door to my room."  
"Okay honey, stay calm and I am on my way."  
"Okay Dad, hurry."  
The phone went silent. She had to act, she couldn't just sit here and do nothing. That was not an option. With every effort in her she slid out of bed as quietly as she could. There was no telling how much time she had so she had to act fast. She pushed herself up and started to walk with her hands dragging her feet towards the door. Once she got there she opened the door a crack and Listened again.  
"Okay, boss says we have seven minutes to get out of dodge. Let's start the the timer and get out of here."  
"Right."  
She heard the click of a button and a beep. The countdown had begun. She sat quietly until she heard both men pass her door, down the hall and into the stairwell. Now was her time to act. She pulled herself down the hall up to the outside of the storage closet. The beeping was faint but she definitely heard it. She also heard almost silent foot steps coming up the stairs from the stairwell. If she got caught out in the hall then she would get put back in her bed and she would surely end up a roasted marshmallow like the other patients. She couldn't let that happen so she reached for the handle on the closet door, barely reaching it and sliding in right before the stairwell door opened. She sat quietly, all the while Listening outside of the door for the footsteps.  
She heard the very faint footsteps outside the door go past and then come to a stop. They slowly sauntered back towards the door. She reached for the nearest object, a mop handle and held it in a ready postion. The door handle slowly started to turn. She was ready to act. If it was one thing the five years hadn't taken away, it was her ability to kick some ass.  
The door suddenly swung open and a dark looming figure stood outside the door. She acted quickly and swung the handle across the person's face. They cried out in pain and surprise and staggered back. She managed to pull herself half into the hallway and she looked for the figure but couldn't see much. Suddenly a foot pinned the handle to the floor and as she looked up and put her hands up to defend herself, she heard a strangely familiar voice.  
"Damn Barb, I always knew you swung for the fences but that's just rediculous."  
"Oh Dick!" she exclaimed as she threw her arms around his leg. "How did you know?"  
"A little Bat told me. He said to stake the place and when I saw two guys rushing out of here I thought I would scope the place out. Luckily I have enough intuition to match my good looks to check by the room I figured they were targeting. Yours."  
"It's a bomb."  
"Figured as much. You know, I was never to good at disarming these things." he said as he popped the latches holding the briefcase closed.  
She hadn't seen Dick Grayson in over a year and she had never been happier to see him. Though their relationship was a little strained, he had never lost his wit. It was one of the things that had appealed to her about him. Thinking about it now and the fact that he had come to rescue her so valiantly, made her wish their timing had been right...  
"This is definitely Joker's work."  
"But, he's been locked up in Arkham for five years. What took him so long to act? That's not really in his nature to wait so long."  
"I don't know, maybe this plan is really big. Either way that's not the issue at this point. I've got a minute and a half to get this someplace where it can't hurt anyone. Stay here and wait for Bruce, I'll take care of it." said Nightwing as he was turning to leave  
"Dick?"  
He stopped and turned his head.  
"Be careful."  
"Always."  
He started running and busted out of the second story window. About a minute later she heard the explosion. A single tear slid down her cheek as she prayed that he had gotten rid of the bomb in time to save himself.


End file.
